going back to the clinton tax rates, remember, the average american family has taken a hit. median income four years ago was $54,000 a year. it is about $50,000 a year now. this portion of the population has been squeezed. adding taxes on 90% will not be helpful. how much do you want folks to bear? freezing those tax rates for the overwhelming majority of americans is a smart thing to do. host: you said fight later on. guest: the fight would start the next day. we could do what i'm talking about, and negotiations could continue. doing what i'm talking about does not violate what either side is fighting over. they both say this is something we want to do. why not make sure we do not have some last-minute failure at the end of december. guest: what gives you confidence that democrats would agree later on? guest: this is where i disagree with some of my colleagues. they seem to think the american people are leveraged, and this is the democrats leverage. our leverage is in the spending and entitlement issues. the president and his negotiators are smart and able people. they know